Optical devices or elements such as lenses, mirrors, wave plates, filters, volume Bragg gratings, prisms and the like are often mounted to an optical system, and particularly an experimental optical system, with an adjustable optical mount. An example of an optical system may include an optical bench or base having multiple optical devices and components mounted to the base with an orientation so as to provide an optical path which directs a light beam from one optical device to the next. Beams from lasers or other light sources are generally used for such applications. For such arrangements, an adjustable optical mount provides a mechanism to securely fasten an optical element to the optical bench or other component of the optical system and still allow for some adjustment of the orientation of the optical element.
Existing adjustable optical mounts may include embodiments having a first plate configured to have an optical element secured thereto. A second plate is disposed adjacent the first plate and includes three contact points extending from the second plate to the first plate. One or more of the contact points may be disposed on the end of an adjustment shaft, such as an adjustment screw, which is threaded to the second plate. The contact points may also be disposed in a detent on the first plate which allows rotation of the contact point relative to the first plate, but prevents the contact point from sliding or being transversely displaced along the first plate. One or more retractive members, such as springs or magnets, are fastened between the first and second plates so as to force the plates to be drawn together with the restorative force of the spring, springs, magnet or magnets. The attractive force generated by the retractive members between the plates is resisted by the three contact points against the respective detents of the first plate.
In such an arrangement, rotation of an adjustment screw moves the adjustment screw relative to the second plate in order to adjust the separation between the plates at the adjustment screw position and thus the relative orientation of the first plate to the second plate. If a fine screw thread is used for the adjustment screw, fine adjustment of the orientation of the first plate and optical element can be made with respect to the second plate. The second plate is generally configured to be securely mounted to a base of an optical system with a flange, clearance hole, threaded hole or the like. Once the second plate is securely fastened to the optical bench or base, the adjustable optical mount allows the optical element secured to the first plate to be secured to the base of the optical system with fine adjustment of the orientation of the optical element relative to an optical path of the optical system.
One of the shortcomings of such an arrangement is that the manual manipulation of one adjustment screw may disturb other adjustment screws or move the entire optical mount structure. Such systems may also be adjusted with remote electric motors, such as stepper motors; however, these types of motors tend to be bulky and expensive and may require complicated reduction gearing as well as other refinements. Another problem with some existing optical mounts is a lack of ability to reset the optical mount to a known position if it has been disturbed or inadvertently moved. As such, what has been needed are adjustable optical mounts capable of remote adjustment that enable precision control of the position of an optical element in a desired axis. What has also been needed are adjustable optical mounts having the ability to return to a known position.